The Killing

Before he filmed malicious spaceship computers, Beethoven-loving psycho killers and Nicole Kidman in the nude, Stanley Kubrick attacked a simpler topic: the heist. But he was still Kubrick, after all, so his 1956 film The Killing, showing today at Alamo Drafthouse, is still dark, quirky and classic. Only Kubricks second feature-length work, The Killing centers around Johnny Clay, who, during a stint at Alcatraz, concocts a plan to rob a racetrack. He gathers a motley crew and plans an elaborate ploy involving a bar fight and horse murder, but the scheme goes horribly wrong. Lovers, liars, musclemen and misfires make for a riveting film-going experience, and even if The Killing lacks some of Kubricks later stylization, the creepiness is still there, with the black-and-white camerawork serving to give the movie a haunted feel. 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday. 531 South Mason Road, Katy. For information, call 281-492-6900 or visit www.drafthouse.com. $6.50.
Fri., Aug. 29, 7:30 p.m.; Sat., Aug. 30, 7:30 p.m., 2008